Review: Makers
I got a chance to read Cory Doctorow’s Makers recently (entirely on my Nexus with the Aidiko app). The ideapack was great. The characters/narratives bored me.
One thing that irked me is that Cory’s understanding of the future is extremely uneven,. It’s a glum future, but one that 99% of our time we can get away with not seeing it because we’re in someone’s workshop. Maybe that’s supposed to be part of the charm of the characters/narrative I mentioned not really caring about.
Anyway plot devices aside, the book does get you thinking about a distributed manufacturing (a potentially HUGE sector of the econom that can impact at a core level) and that’s a win.
What’s Going To Hinder Chindia?
Hilarious. The Economist asked a bunch of CEO’s what would hinder India’s growth vs. China’s.
You can see black swans (for them anyway) forming where there is white space on the right side of this graph.
_2.jpg "Chindia Growth")
Via Kedrosky (who is apparently giving a TED spiel tomorrow.)
Cyber Shockwave + Oil Shockwave
Marc Ambinder is aflutter over this exercise. It focuses on the reaction of cabinet-level officers to the extremely unlikely case of the equivalent of a cyber-nuke attack from the unknown. I’m much less optimistic. Like Oil Shockwave before it, its a high profile exercise that doesn’t actually accomplish anything.
Oil Shockwave was predicated on the idea that, over four months, oil supplies would crash as a result of geopolitical crises, and prices would skyrocket. They used markers with a range of $100 to $180 per barrel ($115 and $165 if I recall correctly.) Of course, when prices did hit $115, ultimately peaking at just under $150, little to nothing of what the cabinet or POTUS did mattered. The response then, (limited though it was) was entirely at the individual level. We’re likely to see the same kind of dynamic emerge here. Lots of ad-hoc.
IF you want to do something like this, the right approach is to do so with the widest set of participants possible (vs the EXTREMELY narrow set demonstrated here), and make it an ongoing process.
Idea: iPad As A Surface
In a lot of ways, the iPad is just a multitouch wrapper for everything you do. Potential use case:
An interface for a more powerful machine. I would love the ability to edit text the way I described in TangibleText on my main machine via an iPad. Especially if coupled with software along the lines of Synergy to enable seamless transitions ( of not only mouse and keyboard but a full range of applications) across operating systems. This could be really simple, but powerful, to apply to audio and visual editing as well.
Sure, it’s a very expensive interface, but there are instances where that could be worth it.
Idea: Salt Drones
Build UAVs able to carry payloads of salt. (Could probably repurpose a set of cropdusters.)
Utilize Google Maps to establish waypoints. Lay salt down on roads, sidewalks if you can swing it via satellite imagery.
Also. If there’s any difference in infrared readings, these things could target only areas below a certain temperature threshold.